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William Bradfords "Of Plymouth Plantation"
William Bradford was the head of the Plymouth plantation and he wrote a record of when they were on the ship headed to the new world to their settlement and their encounters with the natives. His diction reveals that he scorned the natives.
Some key things to know are that Pilgrims wanted to completely separate from the church of England and the Puritans wanted to purify it
“The place they had thoughts on was some of those vast and unpopulated countries of
America, which are fruitful and fit f -
John Winthrops "A Model of Christian Charity"
Winthrop is preaching to the people coming into the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He preaches that the people must obey what God says and live simply or else God will release his wrath upon them. They must “walk humbly with God” and work together-even single women and men were put into other families. They had to work together, be happy together, be sad together-they were one entity. Winthrop preaches that they “shall be as a city upon a hill” because all others are watching their actions, they repr -
Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God”
This passage is about how J.E. uses pathos in order to scare the townspeople in to obeying God. J.E. uses intense literary style in order to portray god as an angry vengeful god.
“There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of;
there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleas -
Ben Franklins "The Autobiography"
Ben Franklin’s autobiography was written during the Age of Reason. In his autobiography he goes from being nothing, into writing about his 13 virtues about becoming a morally perfect human being, which have to be carried out consecutively. This reflects the time period because of the logical approach Ben takes in solving a problem. -
Patrick Henrys "Speech to the Virginia Convention"
This article was important because Patrick Henry uses kairos to get the Virginia convention to go to war against Britain. This reflects the age of reason because Patrick uses a logical argument to get his point across. Some important lines are when Patrick says that we are slaves to the British rule. -
Washington Irvings "The Devil and Tom Walker"
This story is about a guy who goes into the wilderness and meets the devil. He sold his soul to the devil in exchange for money. As he goes throughout his life he realizes that he did something evil and he try to compensate by attending church regularly and carrying around a bible.
-The author is trying to show that there is evil everywhere and it reflects the anti-transcendentalist idea that the truth comes out in extreme situations
"I must take care of myself in these hard times.." -
Ralph Waldo Emersons "Nature"
"But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars."
In Nature, Emerson states that man must go into nature to seek guidance and receive advice. He also mentions that few adults can truly see nature. Children can see nature which describes the wisdom of the child as well as the inward and outward sense of a person. -
Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Minister's Black Veil"
"Mr. Hooper's face was behind that piece of crape"
A minister decided to wear a black to show that he had his secret sin. The veil started to change everyone around him and his wife ended up leaving him for it. On his death bed the other ministers wanted to take off the veil and he fought with them to take it off until he died. Some important scenes include when the corpse shutters at the sight of his face and it shows that they had a connection with each other. -
William Cullen Bryants "Thanatopsis"
"Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." Thanatopsis by Bryant is entirely about death as well as the aspects of dying. At first Bryant says that Nature will quell your bad feelings and that the earth will welcome you once you die. Later on he mentions that one should live life to the fullest so that they may welcome death with no regrets. -
Henry David Thoreaus "Civil Disobedience"
"That goverment is best which governs least"
Thoreau is speaking out about how the American people should rebel against the British goverment. At this point, the British have put the New World into a period of salutary neglect and they have already established their own government. Thoreau believes that they should stand up for themselves as he did by not paying a poll tax for 6 years. The main idea is that democracy should be further improved. -
Henry David Thoreaus "Walden"
"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life..."
Thoreau isolates himself from society in order to find the true meaning of life. He believes we should concentrate on the more important things in life, not waste or lives on mediocre things such as war. He is inspired by the simplicity of life such as when he grows his beans. The irony of this account is that Thoreau was never truly alone, he lived on Emersons plot of land and even had guests for dinner. -
Henry Wadsworth Longfellows "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls"
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls. "The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls" is a romantic poem about a man that dies and how everyone seems to forget about him when he dies because his footprints get washed away by the sand. This reflects the romantic idea of the cycles of nature and the equality of all living things. -
Henry Wadsworth Longfellows "Cross of Snow"
"And seasons, changeless since the day she died." This Italian sonnet commemorates the death of Longfellows wife who died in a tragic fire. The message is hard to decipher at first, but it becomes obvious that Longfellow yearns for his wife and is extremely lonely without her. -
Charlotte Perkins Gilmans "The Yellow Wallpaper"
"I'm getting really fond of the room in spite of the wall-paper."
A woman with anxiety problemswas forced to stay in a room with yellow wallpaper because her husband, a doctor, thought it was the best treatment for her. She becomes crazier but her husband thinks that she’s getting healthier. The purpose of the article was to criticize this treatment of psychological diseases. This reflects realism because it is based off of realistic events and is written in order to criticize and idea.
